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Aston Lawyer, Solicitor

Category: UK Law

Satisfied Customers: 10491

Experience: LLB (HONS) Over 23 years legal experience specialising in Property law and Wills/Estates

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My neighbour has a personal licence agreement right of way

Customer Question

My neighbour has a personal licence agreement for a right of way over my land. My neighbour has now let his property under a residential tenancy agreement. As it is a personal licence and does not run with the land can his tenant of the property use the right of way?

Hello and thanks for using JustAnswer.My name is ***** ***** am happy to assist you with your enquiry.It all depends on what the Licence says.It would normally say that "the owner or occupier" of x High street (being your neighbour's address) has a right of way. If so, then his Tenant would be entitled to use the right of way, until the licence expires.If the Licence merely grants your neighbour a right of way,(ie it says, "A grants to B a right of way over his land....") the agreement is personal to him and his Tenant would not be entitled to use it.I hope this clarifies the position to you.Kind RegardsAl

Al,The wording of the licence is:The owner grants to the Licensee, his visitors, servants and agents the Rights (in common with the Owner and all authorised by the Owner so far as is not inconsistent with the Rights) during the licence period.

Hi again,After some consideration, I would like to say the following-Whether the Tenant is entitled to use the right of way will depend on the construction of the Licence. A court will construe the language of the document in the light of the circumstances and the intention of the parties at the time of the grant. (So, if you were aware that the neighbour was going to be renting out the property, your neighbour could argue that the Licence was to benefit his Tenant). Whether or not the tenant can use the rights will therefore depend upon the precise surrounding circumstances.However, assuming that the document does not grant any proprietary right (ie a right that binds your land and your neighbour's land) and is genuinely a licence, this is a personal right or permission and as such cannot be passed on to successors in title. So if a person is granted a personal licence to use a path or road, that person's tenant will not have the benefit of that licence.Therefore, provided you weren't aware of the proposed Tenancy,I do not think that a tenant would ordinarily be considered a "visitor" in this context and that the Tenant would not have the right to use your right of way.Unfortunately, matters such as these depend on the exact wording of the whole document and the intention of the parties, but I doubt very much that neither your neighbour or his Tenant would go to the length of pursuing a claim in Court, if you were to stop the Tenant from using the right of way.I hope this assists and sets out the legal position.Kind RegardsAl